<p>As promised, this market recap is out a day late, but still released to go over an important week in the market! We learned some of the discussions that led to last month’s 50bps rate cut, new CPI data and kicking off earnings season!</p><p class="button-wrapper"><a class="button primary" href="https://beansandbucks.substack.com/subscribe"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p><strong>Wednesday - Fed Minutes</strong></p><p>This week we received the minutes from the Fed meeting that was held last month that ultimately led to the 50bps rate cut. These minutes are important to investors as it gives them a peak behind the curtain at the closed-door meeting. The minutes showed that a few of the members of the Fed would have been ok with a 25bps rate cut at the July meeting, but also would have been ok with a 25bps rate cut in September to view impacts. Remarks like this led to uncertainty, because on one hand, they discussed cutting sooner, but on the other hand, some said that 25bps would have been ok instead of the larger 50bps. You can see how this may strike some fear or uncertainty into investors. Ultimately, 11 out of the 12 Fed members agreed to the 50bps rate cut. After early gains on Wednesday prior to the minutes, the market went largely sideways as we digest these remarks.</p><p><strong>Thursday - CPI Data</strong></p><p>CPI stands for Consumer Price Index, as we’ve discussed in the past. This is a good indicator of inflation and one that is heavily looked at and referenced as a basis for further investing or indicating a time to take profits in regard to inflation-curbing measures. CPI rose 0.2% month over month (MoM), which beat the 0.1% MoM forecast. The year over year (YoY) forecast of 2.3% was also beat with a reading of 2.4%. However, it is important to note that the 2.4% YoY reading is down from the 2.5% YoY data from last month.</p><p>Clearly, this injected a bit of fear into the markets, since we just cut rates, and we are already seeing inflation rise before those cuts even take effect. This led to a choppy day with not much movement.</p><p><strong>Friday - Earnings Season</strong></p><p>Earnings season kicked off on Friday with banks. To summarize, banks beat their earnings and forecasted future growth that pushed some confidence back into the markets and led the indices to new all-time highs.</p><p><strong>Technical Analysis</strong></p><p>Monday started with that red candle down to 5.7k. You can see we finally broke through that 5.8k level after Friday’s bank earnings. Looks like we moved higher Monday of this week and seem to be working on testing that breakout level of 5.8k again today.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fec2e99fe-0299-461f-b969-596c97cbc01e_880x671.png" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><source type="image/webp" /><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" height="671" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fec2e99fe-0299-461f-b969-596c97cbc01e_880x671.png" width="880" /><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><svg class="lucide lucide-refresh-cw" fill="none" height="20" stroke="currentColor" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></svg></div><div class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2" fill="none" height="20" stroke="currentColor" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>This is healthy action. Grinding up higher on decent green volume and breaking out. I would have liked to see increased volume on the breakout, but if we see strong volume support that 5.8k breakout that will be just as good a sign as any for a move higher!</p><p>This week on Beans & Bucks we will review Spousal / Custodial IRAs! To contribute to IRAs, you need earned income. But what if a family member is out of a job or a stay-at-home parent? Stay tuned later this week to find out more!</p><p class="button-wrapper"><a class="button primary" href="https://beansandbucks.substack.com/subscribe"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>As always, thank you for reading, liking and subscribing!</p><p>Prosperously, </p><p>Jim</p>